


10 Tails: It's Hero Time

by 19agbrown



Series: 10 Tails [2]
Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Attempted Kidnapping, Character Death, Explosions, F/M, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Fights, Kidnapping, M/M, Major Character Injury, Other, Revenge, Smuggling, major character illness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/19agbrown/pseuds/19agbrown
Summary: This is Part 2 of 10 Tails. You might want to go read Part 1 first, or this will NOT make sense.Chapters 1 and 2 are now up. :)After Vilgax flees the attack, Rook is left with 10 children to raise. Even if he is their father, Rook is still a stranger to these kids. How will they handle each other?Meanwhile, things are changing. The kids grow, and their personalities shift drastically. Gone are the kids you've seen, but what will they become, and what will they do to avenge their mother?I suck at summaries, but honestly, this one's not too bad. Though I was kind of struggling to give away enough but not too much...
Relationships: Kevin Levin/Gwen Tennyson, Rook Blonko/Ben Tennyson
Series: 10 Tails [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645993
Comments: 5
Kudos: 31





	1. IT'S A CHAPTER NOW, YAY!!!! 🎉 (Chapter 1)

**Author's Note:**

> Ok. So it's 11:23 pm, and I may or may not have forgotten that today was November 2nd... so as compensation for my inexcusably late update, I'm posting chapter 2 at the same time as chapter 1. To be honest, I was contemplating doing it this way anyway, and this just gave me a convenient excuse. :) 
> 
> So, anyway, here it is! Part 2 of 10 Tails. Oh, I have SO much planned for this, and an ENORMOUS twist coming, because remember, not all is as it seems in regards to the end of Part 1, and I can't WAIT to get to that reveal, because, gah! It's going to be great. 
> 
> Part 2 goes a long way, as far as passage of time is concerned, and it gets a lot more in depth with the kids than Part 1 did, because it has so many changes to them, and the changes are happening in real time, and I want to show that. It's so hard writing younger kids, so I can't wait until my writing gets up to their teens, because as someone who was a teen not too long ago, I will find that very much easier to write than 10 year olds. 
> 
> Oh! I just have so MUCH in store for this! I have a massive brainstorm, and it's so big that I'm having to condense it in order to not drown you in psycho babble, because I got a bit carried away in the planning. But, I can't WAIT for you guys to get to read the full thing, because I love it so much already, and it's not even finished, and I'm very excited about finally getting to start the posting, and just... :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm passable at drawing, but not anywhere near good enough to animate anything, much less an entire show.

**_ Chapter 1: _ **

Rook held his head high, unashamed of the tears streaming down his face as he carried Ben’s body towards the Proto-Ship. The young hero was dead-weight in Rook’s arms, and the still open eyes seemed to stare ominously at the fluffy clouds scudding by overhead. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Rook felt just as dead as Ben inside.

People on the sidewalk stared at the crying Revonnahgander and the procession of 9 children and an Osmosian following silently behind him. Rook felt angry at that. After all that Ben had done for these people in the past, and they couldn’t even look at him with anything but curiosity when he was dead. It was disrespectful to say the least.

Once they reached the privacy of the ship, Kevin Levin went straight to the co-pilot’s seat while Rook gently laid Ben’s body down on a stretcher next to the still-unconscious form of Paige, and reached out to close Ben’s unseeing green eyes. Rook then stood over Ben with his head bowed, seemingly not noticing the 9 children standing in a clump behind him.

When he turned around though, he definitely noticed them. Rook blinked at them, then gestured silently to the bench seats along the opposite wall of the Proto-Ship, just across from Ben’s stretcher. Taking the hint, the children shuffled over to the bench, and began to fumble with the crash-restraints.

Rook sighed and walked over to help the children. Once all 9 were buckled, Rook turned to walk to the driver seat, but stopped when one of the children spoke. “Daddy?” Rook turned slowly to see a teary-eyed boy with a single sharp fang hanging over his bottom lip and a dark bruise visibly forming under his white facial fur.

Rook cleared his throat. “Yes…?” Rook trailed off, not knowing which child this was. “Blonko.” The boy answered. Rook blinked. Oh. This is the one that had been named after him. It was the oldest. “Yes Blonko?” Rook said in a near-monotone voice.

Blonko swallowed. “Can I ride up front with you?” Rook’s brows furrowed. He did not know what he’d been expecting, but it was not that. “I think not.” Rook answered with finality in his voice.

Rook went to turn away, thinking that was the end of it, but the boy spoke again. “But, Dad, I—” Rook turned back around, and snapped, “I said no!” Blonko’s mouth shut with an audible click, and fresh tears began to well up in his amber-colored eyes. The girl next to Blonko placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, then turned to look at Rook with a withering amber-green glare.

“He does not feel comfortable seeing Mommy like that. He does not wish to sit across from him while we go wherever it is we are going. He was only trying to tell you that, if you would have let him speak.” The girl said in a very stern voice, as if reprimanding Rook.

Rook was speechless. The last person to speak to him in that tone of voice had been Magister Tennyson when awarding him his suspension. Rook was unaccustomed to hearing that tone from a little girl, let alone said little girl using it on him.

Rook blinked at the girl and tried guessing which one she was. There were only 4 girls, right? So there weren’t many options. Rook distinctly remembered that Gwen had red hair, and Paige was unconscious on the same stretcher as Ben. There was one with black hair, but he couldn’t remember which one, then 2 had brown hair. The one who had spoken to him had brown hair, so… Tilly, maybe? Yeah, it was definitely Tilly.

Rook narrowed his eyes at ‘Tilly’ and spoke in a similar tone to the one she had just used on him. “Well, Tilly, be that as it may, I already told him no.”

The girl crossed her arms and glared at Rook. Uh-oh. Had he guessed wrong? “ _I_ am Shar, not Tilly. She’s Tilly.” Shar jabbed her bi’nthak in the direction of a near-human looking girl with green eyes and shaggy black hair. Rook mentally face-palmed. He knew he should have asked her name instead of guessing.

It seemed that Shar was not the only one mad about Rook’s mix-up. As soon as he had called the girl the wrong name, the entire brood had slumped over and looked mad at the world. ‘ _Of course’_ , Rook thought, trying not to glance at Ben’s prone form, _‘If they were mad at the world, I would not blame them. They have plenty of reason to be._ ’

Rook cleared his throat awkwardly and mumbled a quiet “My apologies.” Then he fast walked to the driver seat, and took off from the ground, flying towards Plumber HQ.

Big Kevin side-eyed the Revonnahgander from the co-pilot’s seat. “Everything ok back there?” Kevin asked in a hollow voice. Rook swallowed. No, everything was NOT ok back there. Ben was back there dead; how could everything be ok? But all Rook said was, “Everything is fine.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Then how come you yelled?” Rook did not answer. Kevin sighed. “Rook, I know how you feel, but—” “No.” Rook interrupted. “You do not.”

Kevin reached above his head and flicked a green switch before looking at Rook again. “No, I suppose I don’t. But they do.” Rook’s hand’s tightened on the steering wheel, which did not go unnoticed by big Kevin or the sharp-eyed Shar.

Kevin ran a hand through his hair. “Look, all I’m saying is that you need to cut them some slack, ok? They lost him too.” Rook knew that if he was not still numb from losing Ben, he would be surprised by how wise and open the Osmosian was being. That was not like Kevin at all. Perhaps Ben’s death was the cause of Kevin’s uncharacteristic wisdom.

Rook felt his chest tighten, feeling very much like Ben had earlier, when he saw Magister Tennyson and Gwendolyn waiting for the Proto-Ship in the parking lot with wide smiles on their faces. They did not yet know of Ben’s fate.

Big Kevin and Rook landed the ship, then went to the back and helped the 9 children unbuckle. Kevin’s heart broke to see the previously over-enthusiastic little Kevin looking so lost and broken. It was a feeling the Osmosian knew well enough to identify by sight.

Swallowing down the wave of sadness, Kevin turned to the stretcher and scooped up the unconscious little girl from where she laid beside her dead mother. Kevin then cast a cursory glance over the other kids, noticing a little red head being supported by 2 others. “Is she hurt?” Kevin asked in concern.

Shar shook her head. “No. She just cannot walk well. Blonko is hurt though.” She gestured to a crying little boy who was still sitting down. Kevin could tell just by looking at the kid that his leg and a few ribs were broken. How had the kid even made it onto the ship?

Kevin shifted the unconscious girl in his arms so that she was only in his left arm, then scooped up Blonko with his right. He then knelt down in front of the red headed girl. “You can ride on my back if you promise not to choke me.” He said in a gentle voice. Shar helped Gwen onto big Kevin’s back, and then Kevin stood up. With a child in each arm and one on his back, Kevin turned to see Rook standing there, cradling Ben, while several of the other kids looked like they should not be walking.

Kevin averted his eyes. If he told Rook to put Ben down and pick up the kids, that would not go over well. Kevin smiled a forced but gentle smile at a short boy with a vocal band, and said, “Can you walk over to the control panel and press the green button for me please?” The boy did not respond but did as Kevin asked.

Kevin, the kids, and Rook then trooped solemnly down the ramp, watching as Gwendolyn and Grandpa Max’s smiles disappeared. Grandpa Max stooped down and picked up a limping boy with a shock of brown hair, noting the large bruise taking shape around one of the boy’s amber-colored eyes. Grandpa Max studied Bayliff for a moment more, before turning to the loaded down Osmosian. “What happened?” Grandpa Max asked big Kevin.

The Osmosian gulped, taking a quick glance behind him, where Rook was standing at just the right angle to block Ben’s body from the Magister’s view, but Gwendolyn was already looking in that direction with a panicked expression. “Vilgax was already attacking when we got there, but the kids were holding their own with some genius improvised tech.” Kevin gestured to the 2 children in his arms. “These 2 got the worst of the injuries, and they were already hurt when we arrived.”

Kevin closed his eyes. “It was hard to fight Vilgax while trying to protect the kids at the same time. They were putting up a good fight, but they were just kids. Even the one that had the Omnitrix was just… a kid. Not much older than my own kids. I ran myself ragged keeping them out of Vilgax’s line of fire instead of attacking him.”

Kevin took a deep breath. “Rook was trying to protect them like I was, but instead of keeping them out of the line of fire, he was using his armor to take the hit. But that sword… we’ve seen it slice through spaceships like they were butter. There’s no way Rook would have survived it. Ben…” Kevin’s voice got a bit shaky. “Ben saw it before I did. He saw Vilgax gearing up to swing that sword at Rook’s back. Rook was shielding 2 of the children from a mis-aimed explosive at the time, so he couldn’t have dodged it.”

“Ben knew he couldn’t have dodged it. So Ben dropped Red,” Kevin gestured to the girl who was clinging to his shoulders. “and he took the sword instead.” Kevin stepped to the side, giving both Grandpa Max and Gwendolyn a good view of the body in Rook’s arms.

“BEN!” The 2 yelled in unison before both ran over to where Rook was cradling the bloodied body. “Why didn’t you say something sooner!” Max snapped, frightening Bayliff, who he was still holding. “We have to get him to the infirmary!”

But Gwendolyn shook her head with her hand over her mouth. “At the rate his Mana is draining, he was dead before they got here.” Max suddenly looked every bit of his 80 years. “No.” He whispered, running his hand through Ben’s sweat-dampened hair.

Grandpa Max then retracted his hand. “Get him to the infirmary and on a vent. I’ll call Azmuth. Maybe there’s something he can do.” Kevin’s dark eyes glared at Max. “We’re not calling in the Galvans to experiment on him. He’s gone, just let him rest.”

Max grit his teeth, and said to Rook, “Take Ben to the infirmary and get him on a vent. That’s an order.” Ignoring Kevin’s angry protests on Ben’s behalf, Rook numbly carried the dead hero in the direction of the Plumber med bay, ignoring the shocked and panicked looks the kids were giving him as he carried their mother away from them.

On reflex, little Kevin reached out his hand and tried to follow Rook, but Gwendolyn’s hand gently landing on his shoulder stopped him from following. None of the conscious children’s eyes left Rook’s retreating back until he passed through a set of doors and out of sight.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is entirely just Ben's funeral. I tried to work in a POV for every one of the kids, and I think I managed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah. If you read the chapter summary, then you know what this is. It's relatively long-ish, but it's not like monstrously long, I don't think. 
> 
> But anyway, here is chapter 2! :D
> 
> Disclaimer: I can't even figure out how to get a picture on Archive of Our Own fics, what makes you think I can work all the tech it would take to create Ben 10?

Chapter 2:

Ben’s funeral took place on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. The Galvans had been unable to bring Ben back due to his spinal column having been completely severed by the sword. It was a testament to how sharp that sword was that it had severed Ben’s spinal column when it had swiped across his chest not his back. 

The group of 10 children, Ben’s family, several hundred friends and well-wishers, and a few of the villains that Ben had fought over the years all stood crowded in the church where the service was held. There were also several hundred Plumbers and more than 50,000 civilian mourners standing outside the large church with their heads bowed. Ben would have been touched to see how many beings attended.

Kenny wiped stubbornly at the tears running down his face, forgetting about the watch still clamped to his left wrist until it touched his face. Rook had wanted to burry the watch with Ben, but not even Azmuth himself had been able to get it off, so they had put the Omnitrix that Ben had self-destructed into the casket with him instead.

Kenny shifted closer to the closed casket that held his mother, only to be firmly pulled back in line by his father. Kenny looked up at his father and saw that the amber eyes were still fixed firmly on the titanium box that held Ben. Kenny jerked his right arm out of his father’s grip and glared at the Revonnahgander.

As a younger child, Kenny had always fantasized about his father. His father had been his childhood hero, and he’d always wanted to meet him. But Rook Blonko had turned out to be a perfect example of why you should never meet your heroes.

During the week since Ben had been killed, Rook had been nothing but irritating to Kenny. Sure, it was understandable that his father would be in mourning, but Rook Blonko had been stern at times and downright mean at others. Plus, he didn’t know them like their mother had, and he didn’t even try.

He didn’t even ask how they had done things, he just expected them all to change their ways to how he wanted things done. Kenny refused to change that much. He would be open to bending a bit, but their father wanted them to scrap their old life completely and learn his way instead. As far as Kenny was concerned, his father was outnumbered, so he should learn their ways, not the other way around.

But, as his father had informed him last night, majority did not rule. Rook was their father, not their friend, and he was the authority, not Kenny. Kenny grit his teeth. His Mommy would have listened to him. His Mommy wouldn’t have rejected the idea. If his Mommy hadn’t wanted to do it, his Mommy would have gently explained why.

But that was not how their father did things. Their father told them what to do, and he did not want any input, suggestions, or better ideas from the children. Their mother had taught them to think for themselves, but their father wanted them to be robots, and Kenny couldn’t just go from one extreme to the other like that. It wasn’t in his wiring.

Kenny sniffed, and stubbornly wiped away another tear. He was not a baby. He had to be strong. Shar was normally the strong one, but she was crying just like the others, so Kenny had to be the strong one now. It was his turn to take care of them.

A hand landed on Kenny’s shoulder again, and he was about to jerk away from his father, before he realized that the hand did not belong to his father. Kenny looked up and saw the red-haired woman, that he had been told was his Aunt Gwendolyn, looking at him concerned.

Kenny swallowed, then looked away from her. He couldn’t bear to see that pain in her eyes again. He saw pain in the eyes of every adult that looked at him. None of his other siblings had that problem. Sure, the green-eyed ones got a few tight smiles every now and then, but Kenny was the only one that really looked like their Mommy.

He had been told that if it wasn’t for his 2 facial stripes, they would think he was his mother from 19 years ago. He didn’t need to be reminded of the fact that he caused all of the adults even more pain than any of his siblings managed to.

Kenny didn’t jerk away from his Aunt Gwendolyn like he had his father. His father hadn’t cared when he’d jerked away, but he knew it would hurt Aunt Gwendolyn if he did, so he stayed still and let her hand rest on his shoulder until she moved it back to her husband’s arm.

When his Aunt Gwendolyn’s hand was gone, Kenny shifted closer to the casket again. But his father’s hand shot out and gripped his right arm in an iron grip before jerking him back into line. “Stay put.” His father angrily hissed so quietly that the preacher who was speaking could not hear him.

Kenny tried to jerk his arm out of his father’s grasp, but Rook held on this time. Kenny tried to jerk away again, but Rook did not let go. Tears of pain sprung to Kenny’s eyes. His father was gripping his arm too tightly. No one else seemed to notice the iron grip on his wrist, just assuming that the tears were because he was at his mother’s funeral.

Kenny saw little Shar’s sharp amber-green eyes lock in on where Rook’s hand was gripping Kenny’s arm, and he knew that she had figured out what Kenny’s welling tears were really from. She discreetly slid behind Bayliff and Tilly who both stood between her and Kenny. She then shot out a hand and grabbed their father’s wrist with a fiery glare.

Rook visibly jumped, then met little Shar’s glare with a bewildered look. When she saw their father looking at her, Shar hissed in a deadly voice, “You’re hurting him.” Rook looked down at where his hand was gripping Kenny’s arm, and he pulled his hand back, as if he had been burned.

Little Shar’s sharp amber-green eyes saw the bruising handprint before Kenny hurriedly covered it with his left hand. Shar slowly turned back to where their father’s shocked amber eyes were fixed on Kenny’s covered wrist. Her intense glare promised imminent pain, and if she had been looking at Kenny like that… he would have run for his life.

“He just wanted to be closer to Mommy. Surely you can sympathize.” Shar’s voice was pure venom as she spoke, making their father flinch with each word. Rook looked away, and did not look at either of them the entire rest of the ceremony, nor did he pull Kenny back the next time the boy inched forward.

&*

Rook Kevin Tennyson leaned heavily against a big maple tree as he watched the large crowd gathered at his mother’s graveside. He did not want to be anywhere near it. This time last week, Kevin would be in the middle of that crowd babbling and demanding everyone’s attention. He would have been the life of the crowd.

But now… he just couldn’t feel it anymore. He didn’t want to be the center of the crowd. He didn’t even want to be anywhere near the crowd. He just wanted to be far away from here.

Little Kevin sighed. It was his mother’s funeral. He should be more engaged than this. He should fix a wide smile onto his face and demand the spotlight, even if it was all fake. His Mommy wouldn’t want him to sulk on the outskirts and pretend to be a shadow.

His Mommy would want him to babble his father’s ear off and keep everybody else’s mind off of what exactly lay in that long metal box. But for the first time in his very short life, Rook Kevin Tennyson had no desire to do what his mother wanted him to do.

Kevin shrunk further back against the tree, trying his best to turn invisible. He just wanted to disappear. If his Mommy couldn’t be here, then he didn’t want to be either. He burrowed further into his black suit jacket and tried to hide from the world. He didn’t want to be here anymore. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to exist anymore.

&*

Little Gwen leaned heavily into Grandma Sandra for balance. If she hadn't had anyone to lean on, she would most likely have fallen over. If Gwen had been given the choice, she would have picked to lean on someone else, but Sandra had latched onto her, and simply hadn't left her alone for the entire funeral.

Why Sandra couldn't have picked one of the other 9 to irritate, Gwen did not know. Gwen felt for the woman, she really did, but she didn't know her. She knew that Sandra was her Mommy's Mom, but she had never actually met her until 3 days ago, and there was a reason for that.

Her Mommy had always told her that his parents had been very laid back about most things, but that they had been horribly homophobic, especially his mother. He'd told them all how his mother would likely be disgusted with them, simply because both of their parents were males. And her Mommy was right.

Gwen wasn't as sharp-eyed or perceptive as Shar, but even she had noticed Sandra Tennyson's wrinkled nose and false smile when they met her. But Sandra's disgust didn't seem to matter today when they were burying her son.

Gwen wiped at her tears, and resolutely avoided looking at either Grandma Sandra or her mother's casket. Her eyes locked on a small figure huddled next to a neighboring gravestone. Gwen squinted a bit, then recognized the figure as Bayliff.

It was quite surprising that Bayliff wasn't stuck to Grandpa Max, like he had been since their Mommy had died. Maybe Bayliff was just tired of shadowing the old man. Lord knows, that Gwen was certainly tired of being shadowed, herself. Just because she couldn't walk well, didn't mean that she needed to be coddled like a baby.

Her Mommy never coddled her like this. Sure, her Mommy worried, but he could also tell when Gwen needed help and when she didn't. Her Mommy recognized that Gwen could still be independent. That it was only her legs that didn't work, not her mind. But no one outside of her siblings seemed to realize this.

Gwen hadn't been given a moments peace, what with all of the people following her around or offering to carry her every 5 minutes. Gwen knew that they thought they were being helpful, but she hated it even more than she hated being without her Mommy.

&*

Shar's eyes darted around the grave-side gathering, watching her siblings. She had allowed herself to get lost in her grief earlier in the church, and her father had nearly squeezed Kenny's arm off. She wouldn't let that happen again.

They needed her too much for her to just zone out and cry. They needed her to be strong, watchful, and confident, just like they always did. They didn't need Shar, the weak sister. They needed Shar, the junior helicopter parent. They didn't need the girl who missed her Mommy, they needed the girl who imitated her Mommy.

Shar had been copying their Mommy's behavior for years, and they still needed her to do it. They needed her to do it now more than ever.

&*

Max huddled into Paige's side, desperately trying to hide his tear-stained face from the reporters who were flashing cameras at them. Max understood that his Mommy was famous, but did these vultures have no shame? He couldn't even cry at his own Mommy's funeral without it ending up on some newspaper.

Not that Max cared too much about that right now, but he knew he would care later. He wasn't ashamed of crying. These tears were for his Mommy, how could he be ashamed of them? But just because he wasn't ashamed of crying, didn't mean that he wanted pictures of him crying splashed everywhere.

Why were those reporters even here? The church was for everyone. The church was the public mourning. But the graveside was just supposed to be for family and close friends, and the only reporter given an invite was Jimmy Jones, and he wasn't the one snapping pictures or narrating to a camera during the moment of silence.

Max just wished they would go away. He couldn't properly grieve for his Mommy with that blonde woman chattering to a camera with false solemnity. It felt so disrespectful. Max knew that his Mommy had saved the universe several times, and he felt that these reporters were being ungrateful by crashing the grave-side service.

Paige's arm tightened around him, and Max somehow knew that the reporters were irritating her too. Paige wasn't short tempered. It took a lot to set her off, which just made her anger more explosive when it was ignited. Max knew that it was only a matter of time before his big sister verbally attacked those reporters.

&*

Blonko allowed Grandpa Max to hold him with absolutely no protest. And he was slightly ashamed of that. he was the oldest sibling. He was supposed to be the strongest. He was supposed to be the one holding the others, instead of being held.

Blonko felt like the worst big brother in the world. Here he was, crying into Grandpa Max's shoulder and leaving his younger siblings alone with their grief. It felt selfish, getting comfort instead of giving it to them. Of course, with his broken leg, it's not like he could really have efficiently held them anyway, but it still felt like Blonko was doing the wrong thing.

It didn't feel like he deserved this comfort, when his little siblings weren't getting it.

&*

Paige grit her teeth. She would NOT snap at those infernal reporters. They were being disrespectful enough, she would not add to that disrespect by starting a fight.

Paige wasn't crying, not anymore. She had cried at the church, and she had cried when they first got here, but her anger at those reporters had distracted her temporarily. And that anger only grew when she felt Max burrow further into her side.

He shouldn't have to hide his face. Not here. He should be able to cry freely without some eager photographer tactlessly snapping a camera in his face while they strained to hear the preacher's words.

Paige unconsciously tightened her arm around Max's shoulders. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Couldn't these people understand that they were in pain? Couldn't these people see that they were hurting? Or did they just not care as long as they got their story?

&*

The flash of yet another camera in her face caused Tilly to curl her small hands into fists. She hadn't cared at the church. It had been the public ceremony, and she had known that there would be paparazzi there. But foolishly, she had believed that they would not follow the family to the graveside.

Tilly clenched her jaw as she watched a reporter walk over to Kev and flash a camera in his face. They were children, and they had just lost their Mommy. Why would these reporters think that this was in any way okay to do?

What kind of people walked up to children at their Mommy's funeral, saw them crying, and decided to snap a picture?

Tilly's eyes darted over to her father. She saw that he was angry about it too, but he wasn't doing anything. He probably just didn't want to cause a scene, but how could he just let them do this?

Tilly looked away and saw Max trying to hide his face from a rather persistent reporter. It took a moment for Tilly to realize that her vision was tinged pink in anger. Tilly blinked in surprise, and her vision cleared. but even after the pink that cleared from her vision, it had still clung to her hands for a few moments after. What had just happened?

&*

Marshall stood behind his father, glaring at the Revonnahgander’s back. Marshall was sad for his Mommy, but there was not even a single tear on his face, just anger.

Vilgax was aiming that sword at Rook. Rook was the target, not Ben. With that logic, Marshall had decided that it was Rook’s fault that Ben had died. Even if he had known that Rook thought the same thing, nothing would have changed. Rook Marshall Tennyson hated his father.

Prior to Ben dying, Marshall’s dearest wish was to meet his father. To throw a ball with him, like all other kids got to do with their fathers. To play video games with him. To just know him.

But Vilgax and swooped in and changed everything with a mere swing of his sword. He’d even changed Marshall himself. Marshall didn’t know how he had changed yet, but he knew he had.

He had never really figured himself out. He was 10, there as no rush. But even so, he knew that he was not the same person he was a week ago. It felt like there was this gaping hole in his very person, and everything he did to fix it just made it bigger. Without his Mommy, he wasn’t him anymore.

His Mommy had kept him calm, kept him grounded. His Mommy had known just what to say when Marshall started slipping and had known just what to do when Marshall was sad. But now, his Mommy was gone. His grounding force was currently being buried.

Marshall was scared, in a way. He didn’t know what he would become without his Mommy there to keep him sane. He didn’t know how much he would change without his Mommy there to smile at him and keep him blissfully ignorant to pain like this.

Even at 10 years old, Marshall felt so lost. He needed his Mommy back but knew that it was impossible. His glare intensified. He would never get his Mommy back, and in Marshall’s mind, even that was his father’s fault.

&*

Bayliff sniffed disdainfully as he watched Sandra grip Gwen's shoulder. Their grandma hadn't liked them when she met them, but now she was acting like Gwen had known her forever. And she certainly hadn't. Bayliff could easily see Gwen's scowl from where he huddled in front of Matilda Tennyson's gravestone.

Had Sandra been trying that with Paige, Shar, or Marshall, they would have already snapped at her. She was lucky that the one she'd chosen to annoy was more the brooding sort instead of the explosive sort. Sure, Gwenie could get explosive if someone said or did the wrong thing, but it was rare.

Bayliff's eyes moved on down the line, and found Kenny shifting uncomfortably, and looking slightly green. Bayliff blinked. Kenny didn't look sick... he actually was turning green!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOOOO! I just love it! 
> 
> Have a nice little cliffhanger. It's not THAT bad, so please put down those tomatoes. (lol) All in all, I really liked this chapter. It was my first time really playing with the kids' POVs on this kind of scale. The first, but certainly not the last. 
> 
> Whereas Part 1 focused a great deal on the relationship between Ben and Rook and the looming threat of Vilgax, Part 2 focuses more on the kids. And the looming threat of Vilgax. He just never goes away, does he? 
> 
> Oh, I just have so much planned for this, it's taking a lot of self control not to just babble everything out right here, because I'm so excited about it, I can hardly stand it, and I just want to ramble it at someone. Looks like my friends might get a midnight psycho babble about Ben 10. Again. That happens more than you'd think. 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! :) 
> 
> Please comment and let me know what you think! Comments give me life! 
> 
> I shall continue on doing the thing from Part 1. 
> 
> Preview for Chapter 3: Rook felt the tiniest bit of remorse as he turned back to face the gravesite with a solemn expression on his face. He knew he should have handled that better. He knew that he was a terrible father. 
> 
> Next Posting Date: The week of December 15. (It's only so far out because I posted 2 chapters today)
> 
> Archive was glitching a bit while I was posting this, so I'm sorry if there are some spacing issues, or anything odd that I missed when trying to fix it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter picks up where Chapter 2 left off and is the last of the funeral chapters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is very late. But I've got some real life stuff going on that has kind of impacted my posting.
> 
> Firstly, I still haven't gotten a new keyboard, so I'm doing all of this with a touch screen keyboard that autocorrects almost every other word.
> 
> Secondly, my Surface Pro is starting to do this weird thing where I tap somewhere on the screen and it sometimes registers on a completely different part of the screen for some reason, meaning that things open when I'm trying to open something else, letters get placed at random, and my cursor moves elsewhere when I'm typing.
> 
> Lastly, my Dad had a heart attack in December. He's fine now, but it took a little while before I got back into the right mindset for writing, let alone posting.
> 
> However, I'm getting back into the mindset I need to be in for this, so I will try to post in a more timely manner. 
> 
> Disclaimer: If I owned Ben 10, I would have found a different background plot for Omniverse, because having the Time War was a good concept and all, but having a Time War with a time-travelling hero that changes his form fighting against a robotic type alien throughout all of space and time sounds a bit TOO familiar. (seriously, that was established in Doctor Who 7 years before Omniverse)

**_ Chapter 3: _ **

Kenny’s left arm itched uncomfortably around the Omnitrix on his wrist. It had been itching since the moment they arrived at the graveside. Could he be allergic to the pollen here or something?

Kenny sniffled and went to wipe his tear-streaked face on his jacket sleeve, but stopped abruptly when he noticed that his hand was a light green color, and steadily growing brighter in shade. That was definitely not just an allergy.

Kenny frantically wound his way around family members, his Mommy’s friends, and pesky reporters until he was standing next to his scowling father.

Kenny hesitantly reached up and tugged on Rook’s sleeve. “Daddy?” He asked.

“Hush.” Rook responded firmly. “But Dad—” Kenny tried to say, only for Rook to cut him off.

“The reporters make it hard enough to listen without you talking. Be quiet.” Rook told him in a commanding voice.

Kenny’s stomach started roiling, and he felt a bit light-headed.

“It’s important.” He said faintly.

Rook ignored him.

Suddenly, a burst of brilliant green light radiated out from Kenny, temporarily blinding everyone close to him and making the preacher falter in the middle of a rather touching story about the time when Ben had saved him from Zombozo. 

Rook looked at where Kenny had been in disbelief as the light cleared, and an alien that was unmistakably Goop stood in his youngest son’s place.

Kenny’s Goop looked a bit different than Ben’s. Where as Ben’s Goop was a neon green with an anti-gravity projector and nothing else, Kenny’s Goop was a slightly brighter neon green with an odd cape made of black goo hanging from his narrow shoulders. Kenny’s goop had an anti-gravity projector like Ben’s did, but his was slightly smaller and had a black button instead of a red one.

The difference was nice for Rook, because there was no possible way for him to mistake this alien form with Ben’s.

Rook clenched his jaw angrily at the slightly shorter Polymorph. “De-transform right now.” Rook grit out.

Goop fumbled with the watch dial in the center of his chest, but no matter what he did, he still remained a Polymorph.

“I didn’t mean to.” Goop told Rook in a small voice, slightly gurgley in the way that all Polymorph’s voices are.

“You cannot transform without the Omnitrix dial. You shouldn’t have been fiddling with that infernal watch during your mother’s funeral.” Rook’s voice held more anger this time, as if his restraint was slipping.

“I wasn’t even touching it, I swear.” Goop said pleadingly.

“You _can’t_ transform without touching it, Kenny!” Rook yelled angrily.

“Actually, he can.” Kevin Levin interrupted in a cold voice, with a glare directed at Rook.

Gwendolyn nodded. “When Ben first got the watch, his emotions set it off all the time. Kenny’s emotions have got to be all over the place right now. I’m actually surprised that it took this long for it to happen.”

Rook took a calming breath, then looked at Goop with only slightly narrowed eyes. “If you cannot switch back yet, then go wait over there with little Kevin. I do not want your slime getting on the gravestone and ruining it.”

A fat drop of pale green goo slid from one of Goop’s eyes, and he turned and trudged over to where little Kevin was lurking at the base of a large maple tree.

&*

Rook felt the tiniest bit of remorse as he turned back to face the gravesite with a solemn expression on his face. He knew he should have handled that better. He knew that he was a terrible father.

All Rook had wanted these past 10 years was to get to raise his children with Ben. He had desperately wanted to get to know these children.

He used to fantasize about how it would be. He and Ben would get them up and ready for the day, then after they went to school, the dynamic duo would go patrolling and be home in time for school to let out.

Ben would be the favorite parent, of course, because how could he not be? But Rook wouldn’t mind being second favorite, because he would know that the kids loved him anyway. They would be one very big happy family.

But those fantasies had all died with Ben.

Rook was hurting, and he couldn’t just switch that off to be the kind of father his kids deserved to have. But he wouldn’t get rid of them. Even if his short temper and cold behavior would make his kids hate him in the long run, Rook needed them.

They were all he had left of Ben. He could handle Ben’s green eyes glaring out of a few faces as long as he knew they would stay with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> And really, things are not all what they appear to be. There is a gigantic twist coming, and it's going to change everything. It's not coming soon, but it is coming, and I really can't WAIT to post that bit, because it's only a matter of time before I break and end up spoiling it in the notes. 
> 
> I'm not putting in a next posting date anymore. I never stick to it anyway, for some reason or another. I might go back to doing it eventually, but things are just too chaotic for it right now. 
> 
> I'm still doing the preview for the next chapter though.
> 
> Preview for Chapter 4:
> 
> Every day, the children did something that reminded him of Ben. Heck, Kenny didn’t even have to do anything to remind him of Ben. Rook didn’t know if he could do this.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited that I'm all jittery! Perhaps chugging Mountain Dew while posting was not the best idea... 
> 
> Honestly, that's probably the reason for all of my ramblyness, because I'm now super hyper, but anyway. 
> 
> Gah! I'm so glad I've finally gotten to post this, you have no idea. This tab has just quietly mocked me every time I scroll through my Works list, and it feels great to finally give it some substance! :) 
> 
> Let me know what you think! I love getting comments! The more comments I get, the more motivated I get, and the more motivated I get, the faster I tend to write, because motivation=confidence, and then I can get a draft popped out without as much fuss. And I get so excited when I get comments, and then I immediately open up a Word document and work some more on some WIP that I've either been neglecting or should just work more on. 
> 
> Chapter 2 is about to go up. 
> 
> Also, go check out 10 Tails: Deleted Scenes when you get the chance. Eventually, it will have some things from Part 2, after it gets through the Part 1 stuff. 
> 
> Anyway... thank you so much for reading this! :)


End file.
